7 replies to this topic

[chadm75]

My favorite beer seasons of the year are right around the corner....football beer season and pumpkin beer season! Let's see those recipes....for the pumpkin beers that is...!Here's mine:OG: 1.063FG: 1.012SRM: 16IBU: 22.5ABV - 6.4%10 lbs. American 2-row.5 lbs. American Caramel 80°L1 oz. Black Roasted Barley (...just a handful!)1 oz. American Chocolate Malt (...just a handful!)1 lb. Light Brown Sugar1 oz. East Kent Goldings (5.0% AAU) - 60 Mins.WYeast 1056 American Ale60 oz. Libby's Pumpkin Pie Mix - Added to mash1.5 tsp. McKormick's Pumpkin Spice - F/O1.5 tsp. McKormick's Pumpkin Spice - Secondary- Mash grains and pumpkin mix @ 152-154 for 60 minutes. - Add brown sugar to boil at 15 minutes- Add pumpkin spice at flameout and steep for 15 minutes- Add another pumpkin spice addition to the secondary, then rack beer on top to mix well.I'm wrestling with substituting the pumpkin pie mix with cubed and roasted butternut squash...Thoughts?

[Big Nake]

Similar to mine in that you use the spice and the pumpkin schputz that you get at the store. Also similar to mine that you use only 1 hop addition, a mild hop and you also use brown sugar and a neutral yeast. Mine is here, about 2/3rds of the way down the page. It tastes like autumn. It goes well with sweatshirts, bonfires, trick-or-treating (not me... my kids) and falling leaves. Cheers!

[Deerslyr]

Similar to mine in that you use the spice and the pumpkin schputz that you get at the store. Also similar to mine that you use only 1 hop addition, a mild hop and you also use brown sugar and a neutral yeast. Mine is here, about 2/3rds of the way down the page. It tastes like autumn. It goes well with sweatshirts, bonfires, trick-or-treating (not me... my kids) and falling leaves. Cheers!

Ken, FWIW, last fall I "adapted" your Homerun Red Ale for a pumpkin brew. I followed your grain bill and added a couple of cans of pumpkin puree that had been baked with brown sugar, directly into the mash. About 10 minutes left in the boil and I tossed in all of my spices... and again at flameout. Although the color wasn't as brilliantly red as yours, the flavor and aroma was pure Thanksgiving Day!

[jayb151]

I'm wrestling with substituting the pumpkin pie mix with cubed and roasted butternut squash... Thoughts?

I've done a recipe just like that , but i used a whole pumpkin that I cubed and toasted in the oven. It turned out really well, and really wasn't that much work to do. I'd recommend it if you havn't done it before.

[Big Nake]

Ken, FWIW, last fall I "adapted" your Homerun Red Ale for a pumpkin brew. I followed your grain bill and added a couple of cans of pumpkin puree that had been baked with brown sugar, directly into the mash. About 10 minutes left in the boil and I tossed in all of my spices... and again at flameout. Although the color wasn't as brilliantly red as yours, the flavor and aroma was pure Thanksgiving Day!

Wow, Deerslyr... that sounds awesome. Did you use the same hop schedule as the Home Run Red also? I think it was a pumpkin ale I had made by Buffalo Bill's in CA that inspired my version. Clear, orangy-brown color, malty & sweet (but balanced nicely with hops) and setting the stage perfectly for the spice. Yeah, when it tastes like Halloween or Thanksgiving Day, you know you did it right. Cheers!

[Deerslyr]

Wow, Deerslyr... that sounds awesome. Did you use the same hop schedule as the Home Run Red also? I think it was a pumpkin ale I had made by Buffalo Bill's in CA that inspired my version. Clear, orangy-brown color, malty & sweet (but balanced nicely with hops) and setting the stage perfectly for the spice. Yeah, when it tastes like Halloween or Thanksgiving Day, you know you did it right. Cheers!

I don't think I used the same hop schedule since I knew I would be going for the spices. I used what I had "on hand" for bittering, which IIRC, was probably some Perle hops. Again, didn't go for a heavy bittering on it. I think I still have a bottle or two left... might toss it in the fridge to remind me of it. Seriously Ken, if I were you I'd consider using your Homerun Red as the base for a pumpkin beer this year. I'm sure you've done that one enough that you'll be able to hit the right color! Unfortunately my computer crashed this spring with all my recipes. Although, I think I have a hard copy smashed into a box in the garage. I really should be more organized. If you try your Red with the pumpkin, let me know. I was pretty heavy handed with the spices, which includes sticks of cinnamon, fresh ground nutmeg, whole cloves, allspice berries, chopped candied ginger as well as some fresh grated ginger (I love ginger).

[Big Nake]

Seriously Ken, if I were you I'd consider using your Homerun Red as the base for a pumpkin beer this year.

It's funny because most people I know just took an existing recipe and hitched the pumpkin & spice to it. I actually put a grain bill together that I thought would get me close to this commercial example I tried. I love the idea of the brown sugar in the beer and the small amount of chocolate/roasted barley is to take the place of actually roasting the pumpkin. Cheers!

[chadm75]

Hi Ken -Yeah, I took some of your's and switched up the hops, added Crystal 80L (instead of 120L that you use I think?), and upped the brown sugar. I don't know how much the brown sugar will add flavor wise but thought I would give it a shot. This will be my first AG pumpkin ale so I wanted to base my recipe off someone's that could be trusted....your's! I know that I only used 30 oz. of pumpkin mix last year and it wasn't enough so I doubled it. Last year, I used too much spice in mine as well. So hopefully, lowering the amount of spice will put the pumpkin flavor up front and the spice in the background. Brew on!